Tag Archives: Blessed John Paul II

Another door to Pope John Paul’s beatification happened yesterday in Rome. The cardinals and bishops who are members of the Congregation of Saints have affirmed the veracity of the medical investigations of a miracle of attributed to the Venerable Servant of God Pope John Paul II, and the theological report on the same. Andrea Tornielli writes about the news.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, who suffered the effects of Parkinson’s Disease, makes the claim of healing through the intercession of John Paul who also suffered from the same.

Speculation is that Benedict will assign the liturgical memorial for John Paul to a date in October so that his April 2nd date of death and liturgical observance doesn’t conflict with Holy Week. Often the date of death is the feast day though not exclusively as we know of the recent case of Blessed John Henry Newman.

The reports of an approved miracle are surfacing as moving more and more toward a confirmation by the cardinals and bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints before the dossier is given to Pope Benedict for his approval. Theologians, physicians and other professionals have been studying a case of French Sister Marie Simon-Pierre who lived with the effects of Parkinson’s Disease until June 2005.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre said she was healed of the disease following her prayers to the Venerable Servant of God Pope John Paul II asking him to intercede for her for the gift of God’s healing from Parkinson’s. She described her healing as a second birth with the renewed use of her arms and legs. Word about the miracle’s approval ought to be coming very soon with a possible beatification of John Paul later in 2011.

The April 2010 issue of Inside the Vatican (18:4) published a special commemorative issue observing the papal death of John Paul II and the papal election of Benedict XVI. The editor asked various people to write their memories of one of the popes. Sister Sara Butler, MSBT, a professor of dogmatic theology at St Joseph’s Seminary -Dunwoodie, New York, offered her thoughts on Pope John Paul’s contribution to feminist thinking. Sister Sara is a published author and a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue and the International Theological Commission. Sister remembers:

Looking back over the papacy of the Servant of God John Paul II, I find myself especially grateful for the initiative he took in addressing the feminist critique. The Pope did this in his Letter to Women (1995), his apostolic letter On the Dignity and Vocation of Women (Mulieris dignitatem, 1988), and his ground-breaking catecheses on the “theology of the body.” He not only acknowledged the positive contributions of feminist scholarship and offered needed clarifications and correctives in response to their objections; he also spelled out his own appreciation of the “genius” of women and took steps to promote their increased participation in the Church and in the social order. Since the Pope’s death, we are already beginning to see the fruits of his recommendation that Catholic women undertake to develop a “new feminism,” consistent with Catholic doctrine (Evangelium vitae, par 99). In my opinion , it is hard to overestimate the contribution Pope John Paul II made to meeting this contemporary challenge.

The postulator (main promoter/researcher) of the cause of canonization of the Servant of God Pope John Paul II, Msgr. Slawomir Oder, published the full text of John Paul II’s resignation letter in his recent book, Why He Is Holy (only in Italian at the moment).

About the author

Paul A. Zalonski is from New Haven, CT. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Catholic ecclesial movement, and an Oblate of Saint Benedict. Contact Paul at paulzalonski[at]yahoo.com.